For all the relief over the jobless figures released by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics Friday morning  247,000 jobs were lost in July, far fewer than
economists had expected  a dark problem lurks in the numbers: dangerously
high levels of long-term unemployment in America. Unlike recent recessions,
the current economic crisis has been characterized by skyrocketing numbers
of those out of work for three, six or more months at a time. Economists worry that the shock of the past year's financial crisis may
have driven the U.S. into a period of permanently high unemployment similar to what Europe has suffered for decades.

While overall unemployment dropped from 9.5% in June to 9.4% in July, the
number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
increased to 4.9 million, up from 4.4 million in June. Viewed another way,
32.5% of the total unemployed had been looking for work for longer
than half a year, up from 28.9% in June. "This recession is taking people a
very long time relative to past recessions to find another job," says John
Irons, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
Traditionally the U.S. has been able to maintain unemployment at 5% or less,
while Europe has for the past few decades been stuck at 8%, even during
periods of economic growth. (See "What to Expect When the Recession Ends.")

There are several reasons to worry about the high long-term unemployment
numbers. On the individual level, the longer you stay unemployed, the more
unemployable you become. People lose job skills, social skills and the will
to search for a job as they spend time out of work. Unemployment affects
individuals' sense of well being, producing higher rates of depression and
lower levels of life satisfaction. Studies have shown mixed results as to
the effect of unemployment on health. On average all job losers tend to face
a permanent reduction in their salary, and that is even more common for the
long-term unemployed.

Long-term unemployment is also dangerous for the economy as a whole. One
quarter of the long-term unemployed permanently leave the workforce, a
recent study by the Congressional Budget Office found, producing increased
loss of output in the economy. Long-term unemployment burdens social
services, diminishes spending levels in the economy and drains overall
savings. It can also affect unemployment among young, first-time
job-seekers. "Long-term unemployment is debilitating for people trying to
find jobs in the first place," says Professor James K. Galbraith of the
University of Texas at Austin. The more long term unemployed there are
already competing for jobs with long résumés, the harder it is for
first timers with no work experience to get the job, thereby tossing them
into the pool and sustaining the high rate. (See "Great Depression 2.0: Tracing the Meltdown.")

Democrats in Washington have taken extraordinary steps to address long-term
unemployment in this recession. Last year Congress added 33 extra weeks of
unemployment benefits. As part of the stimulus bill this year, Congress
added an additional potential 20 weeks for the worst hit states, raising to 79
weeks the maximum time a laid-off worker can draw unemployment assistance
while looking for a job. To combat "hysteresis," or the atrophying of job
skills in the labor force, the Labor
Department issued an opinion earlier
this year that workers can still draw unemployment insurance even if they
work a volunteer job during their search for a paying one.

To judge from the spiking numbers, those efforts may be having an effect.
Despite criticism from the right that the stimulus was a waste and risked
adding to government jobs, not private-sector ones, the unexpected drop in
overall rates came with only an additional 7,000 jobs in the government
sector. But July's indications of improvements do little to ease some
economists' fears about long-term unemployment now that 1 in 3
unemployed persons has been looking for work for 27 weeks or more. Galbraith
of the University of Texas at Austin believes that some workers have
intentionally left the job pool  fed up with rejection  and will begin
searching for work again only once the economy improves, keeping the long-term
rate high. "Even if things stabilize and start to improve, bringing the
unemployment rate down below 9% is going to be a struggle," Galbraith says.